The Mind of Return in the Funj Era 1505-1821
"A reading from the reality of classes and guest of God"
A research paper for obtaining a master’s degree presented by Othman Hassan Othman
Supervised by Prof. Dr. Osama Abdel-Rahman Elnur
The examining committee: Prof. Dr. Yassin Oraibi, Prof. Dr. Ali Al-Hawat, and Prof. Dr. Najah Al-Qabsi
Faculty of Applied Social Sciences, Al-Fateh University, Tripoli 1996
This study focused on clarifying and analyzing some of the most important aspects of the intellectual situation, specifically the “mind of return,” which represented the mind that Arab culture carried in its essence when it came to Sudan to blend with the local Christian and pre-Christian mind, in one of the largest blending processes that Sudan witnessed in its history, which resulted in the emergence of the first Sudanese Islamic kingdoms. This mixing created a problem that affected the aspects of intellectual and cultural life in the Funj era, and perhaps it is still affecting contemporary life.
The importance of the study comes from the fact that it does not deal with historical events as much as it is a study of the mind, that is, a study of ideas more than a study of the consistency of historical facts, which forced the researcher to follow a specific methodology that relied to a large degree on logical reasoning, that is, on the critical interpretation of those ideas. Studying the Sudanese mind in the Funj era required the researcher to analyze opinions, then interpret them critically, and point out aspects of moderation or deviation in them in a logical manner. Therefore, as long as the results reached by the researcher were based on logic and the most correct opinion, his research necessarily included critical interpretation, which is a step ahead of simply obtaining the facts.
Therefore, the study aimed to analyze some aspects of the expatriate “return mind” after its mixing with the local mind, those aspects that the author of classes, Loud Dhaif Allah, reveals, as a living lifestyle and a living human experience. Before that, the study theoretically proves that the “mind of return” is actually the one that represented the mind of Arab culture in the era of decadence that coincided with the entry of Arab culture into Sudan. Therefore, the research hypothesis was mainly based on the issue of the Arabization of Sudan and its conversion to Islam.
In this way, the researcher opened his endeavor to a number of issues and problems related to the topic and vision, the most important of which is the problem of mixing and the factors and variables associated with it that framed the deep mixing that took place between the local groups that opened through marriage or cohabitation, etc. On the expatriate Arab groups, which led to the formation of a new, distinct society. The researcher wonders: Was this really, as Professor Dr. Aoun Al-Sharif Qasim said, a spontaneous and spontaneous combination? Or was he otherwise subject to certain strategies that directed his career?
In his attempt to answer the question, the researcher sought to study the mechanisms adopted by the new society in order to preserve a special and distinct entity. Where did that privacy and distinction come from? Is it possible to identify specific manifestations that attest to that particularity and distinction, such that it is possible to talk about a self-identity expressed by the present Sudan as a formation of cultural phenomena of multiple origins and the various generations resulting from that, which gave it a special and distinct character?
Presenting the topic in this way gave the researcher the opportunity to shed a revealing light on the process of Islamization and Arabization of Sudan on the one hand, and it also helped him to know the cultural situation that prevailed before Islamization and Arabization on the other hand, which allowed him the possibility of a logical link between the mind and the basics of the culture that shaped it in the Funj era, and the manifestations it took in accordance with historical experience.
Since the book “Classes in particular the Saints, the Righteous, the Scholars, and the Poets in Sudan” by its author, Muhammad al-Nur ibn Dhaifallah ibn Muhammad al-Jaali al-Fadhli (d. 1810 AD), is the source material for research, the research then turns to studying the aspects of the mind, a window through which it overlooks the mind in the Funj era.
Othman Hassan Othman presents his research by saying, “The researcher has a growing sense that Sudanese self-knowledge is nothing more than myths in which reality is mixed with illusion, whether this is a result of the lack or absence of effective academic and scientific studies, or the prevalence of theological writings similar to medieval writings. In addition to those observations that were made available to the researcher, which express issues that indicate the blockage of thought, the contradiction of speech and action, and the predominance of emotion. Therefore, this study attempts to achieve a deeper understanding of the Sudanese person, In a context, scientific concern emerges as a significant formula for the struggle for liberation and the development of national culture.”
The study reached general preliminary formulations of the problem of the mind of return, which looked as follows:
1- Sufism represented the intellectual and mental system of the Funj era, which was dominated by the mind of return....” That mind crystallized from the data of this cultural space. Therefore, that mind was necessarily inspired by the cultural and social discourse, “ideology”, of that stage in accordance with the Sufi style and according to its directives according to the form of questions posed to society in that early period in the history of its formation and growth. The “mind of return” was able to formulate concepts that express, With this or that degree of honesty, about the reality of society in the Funj era: the free/slave, awareness of lineage and honorable lineage, blessing and righteousness, and a special concept of science and other concepts and perceptions at which its study stopped, and the analysis of the Funj era is not correct without using these concepts. The unity of these elements and concepts in the mind consisted of belief in the ego and the self and belief in its perceptions and outlooks. Therefore, the contributions of this ideology support the conflict with the other, or Contrasting ideology. Hence, for the mind of the reactionaries in the Funj era, unity in light of diversity became conditional on the unity of ideology or its agreement in basic contents at the very least, in contrast to its actual reality.
2- Therefore, the inability and backwardness of ideology in contemporary Sudan represents a fundamental cause of the current societal crisis that has unfolded in many ethnic and cultural conflicts. This ideology has not succeeded in overcoming the methodologies of the mind of return that date back to a distant era in Sudan’s history, but rather the stiffness of contemporary thought of return in those statements and related concepts and perceptions. This led to the transcendence of ideological practice, which denies the historicity of the social reality to which the restrictions of interpretation and deduction are subject. Certainly, all the ideas produced in this case are not linked to their economic and social living reality as much as they are linked to another, completely different reality. Therefore, it is not considered a form of consciousness, even if it is part of a social basis within the framework of the overall structure.
Therefore, the concepts and mechanisms used within the scope of prevailing reactionary thought are not suitable for use as keys to analyzing contemporary Sudanese society, especially from the perspective of the desire to achieve cultural and social interaction. It has only a partial degree of honesty. Due to its shortcomings, it turned into cognitive obstacles that prevented the achievement of true national unity and led to forms of conflict that only reflected rivalries and special interests and worked to focus them.
3- For this reason, the call came for the necessity of reconsidering the postulates of the “mind of return,” the thought of return, in all its dimensions: opinions and ideas, producers and consumers, interests and concerns, values and beliefs, political and social ambitions, etc. It was presented in a direction that supports the unity of Sudan and emphasizes the values of constructive dialogue and the promotion of conscious visions, in order to push the human movement and emphasize the importance of conviction in the role of man and the concepts emerging from that, which revolve around homeland and citizenship and promote coexistence in the content of thought and the core of awareness by describing coexistence as the goal of the state.
4- The task of contemporary discourse, which the researcher preferred to call “alternative ideology,” is to confirm its position as a section and part of the cultural base as long as it is the one that mainly controls science, its uses, and the space of knowledge production. Only by implementing this mission of contemporary discourse can knowledge flourish and deepen to become a real practice by coupling it with a philosophical and intellectual awareness that matches reality. Discourse in this way supports forms of interaction that depend on the simplicity of the greatest level of commonalities. This represents the starting point for discourse that comes as a true and direct response to reality as it cannot be understood except through this reality. It aims, with this logic, to be able to avoid ruptures and conflicts and gradually integrate them into the framework of the structure. General - Sudan.
5- Therefore, the Sudan crisis, which is still suffering from its bitterness, is the result of a crisis of thought that has suffered from ideological impotence. He did not succeed in overcoming the methodologies of the "mind of return" which, in various stages of history, expressed a lack of harmony with reality and its verbal representation. This ideological inability to keep pace with reality or express it comes at the forefront of the reasons for diagnosing the current crisis in Sudanese society. Therefore, the problem is limited to solving the problems of thought and removing its contradictions, so that the necessity appears to put forward an ideological project that seeks to overcome the crisis and get out of it. This is because it has been proven from the reality of this study the seriousness of the role that thought plays in obscuring reality and imagining the reality of assuming the source of the prevailing ideology.
Fatigue and emotions accompanying the Zar ritual and their relationship to psychological recreation in Khartoum State, Sudan. Fatigue and the emotions associated with the zar ritual and their relationship to recreation
Master’s thesis submitted by Amal Al-Nour Hamid
Supervised by Prof. Dr. Ahmed Dhafer Mohsen. Examining Committee: Prof. Dr. Bashir Al-Qubbi, and Prof. Dr. Abu Bakr Shalabi
Faculty of Applied Social Sciences - Al-Fateh University, Tripoli 1996
This study represents an investigation into the relationship of fatigue and the emotions that accompany them in the Zar ritual to psychological recreation. The study was based on a theoretical framework and analysis of previous studies that dealt with the Zar phenomenon from various aspects, moving on to complete a descriptive field study based on the reality of the current Zar rituals as they are practiced in the triangular Sudanese capital.
The study raised a number of questions that it tried to answer based on the descriptive study and the results obtained from physiological measurements (weight, blood pressure, sugar, and respiratory rate). The questions were as follows:
* To what extent does belief in zār and its sheikh influence the motivation to practice zār?
* To what extent do sensory impressions influence dance practices to the point of exhaustion?
* To what extent does the audience of viewers influence motivating practitioners to dance to the point of exhaustion?
* What is the relationship between fatigue and the emotions that accompany them in the Zar ritual and psychological recreation?
Within the theoretical framework that constitutes the basis on which the descriptive field study was based, the researcher dealt with the beginning of the phenomenon of Zar in terms of the origin of the name and its historical roots, according to which it is a socio-cultural phenomenon linked to anime thought, magic, and superstitious thought. Then, the researcher covered the fatigue and emotions that accompany the ritual and their effect on the body, and also addressed the psychological aspects related to zar from the perspective of the relationship between the soul and the body.
The researcher devoted the fourth chapter of her research to presenting, discussing and analyzing the results of the field study. The study reached results summarized as follows:
First: In view of the distinctive practice of the Zar ritual, it can be considered a physiological phenomenon in terms of motor performance, fatigue, and accompanying emotions, and the resulting changes in the internal environment of the body of the practitioner. The practice of the Zar ritual depends on psychological influences that are based on belief in the concept of spirits and the possibility of them taking possession of the individual’s body and the myths associated with that concept, in addition to the belief in the effectiveness of treatment by the patient and the therapist at the same time. Hence, zar can be viewed as a psychophysiological phenomenon that can be studied and understood from the perspective of the close relationship between the mind and the body, despite the gaps that still represent an unresolved problem in this field.
Second: The emotion resulting from practicing the Zār ritual includes a cognitive aspect, as physiological changes alone do not cause emotion, but rather require a cognitive evaluation of the state of the stimulus. Knowledge begins with perception and evaluation, and as a result of this evaluation, emotion occurs. The expression in the patterns of emotion in the Zar ritual occurs through physiological responses that follow the inclination felt by the practitioner of the ritual. This perceptual, cognitive and evaluative aspect of the practitioner of the Zar ritual is represented in her belief in the possibility of luring the spirit that has taken possession of her in an effort to appease her and establish bonds of peace and harmony with her. Therefore, the Zar ritual represents for the practitioner a major strategy for securing herself, warding off the danger that threatens her, and banishing her constant fear.
Third: The emotion in the zar is the type of emotion that may provide the practitioner with motivations and desires that push her to continue dancing, and it has an expressive value in linking the practices. It is an emotional charge that provides the practice with motives and desires to respond and interact with the noisy atmosphere. On the other hand, these emotions weaken the will of the practice and its critical power and help to disintegrate information, making it vulnerable to submitting to the suggestions of the treating sheikh.
Fourth: The Zar ritual is characterized by the presence of multiple sensory stimuli, such as incense, drums, singing, music, and colors, which have a cognitive impact on the one hand and an emotional impact on the other, where understanding and realizing the relationship between them is an important factor. The monotony and repetition in song lyrics and the pattern of rhythm all lead to the practice adapting, which may lead to shifting its awareness from the realistic external environment to its internal environment, that is, its separation from the outside world, which may make it vulnerable to sensory deprivation and falling into the traps of suggestion.
Fifth: The chemical and physiological changes that occur within the body affect the internal sensitivity to practice, and rotations, swings, swaying, and head shakes left and right during dancing affect the sense of movement and balance.
Sixth: The practice of zar is accompanied by a temporary decline in the ability to perform, reaching the stage of fatigue, which is manifested in physical exhaustion resulting from the violence of the dance, through which the practice reaches a degree of fatigue and coma. Then the rest recovery phase begins in which the body relaxes, allowing the compensatory mechanisms to perform their function to restore the body’s lost energy.
Seventh: Considering the ritual practice of zar aimed at achieving relaxation, it seems that despite the intense tension characteristic of its rituals, it is tension that does not stand in the way of relaxation, but rather represents the zero point of tension. This is an activity that leads to the fulfillment of a specific desire in the practice belief, that is, it is the use of psychological energies that create an emotional release that may lead to pleasure.
Eighth: Zar can be viewed as a form of psychodrama characterized by the combination of different styles such as singing, drums, and dancing. It also contains artistic expressions and methods used, such as folk clothing, traditional theatrical means, makeup, incense, etc. This is in addition to being a practice that takes place in a celebratory atmosphere supported by sacrifices and karamah.
Ninth: The therapeutic environment in the Zar ritual, in terms of the place and the participating audience, provides some comfort and reassurance for the practitioner and motivates her to respond to the treating Sheikha, who urges her to interact and dance without embarrassment or affectation and unleash her emotions, reaching the peak of creativity in order to gain the satisfaction of the masters.
Tenth: The practice is liberated from social controls and freed from the restrictions of oppression imposed on it without punishment or criminalization, through expressive movement dance.
(A copy of the letter is deposited in the Sudan Library - University of Khartoum, and in the library of Ahfad University for Girls)